The Perfect Triangle
by ManaMadeleine
Summary: In the wake of Ariadne's decision that they cannot to be together, Jason finds himself on the beach where it all began...And Pythagoras finds Jason. Just a little ficlet about feelings, friendship and the perfect triangle... CANON pairings, Friendship/Family-centric.


**Ok, so this is just a little museling of mine after tonight's episode. Hope you all enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I own none of the Atlantis characters and am simply using them for story telling purposes.**

**The-Perfect-Triangle**

In the end, he'd found himself on the beach, legs stretched over the wet sand as the ocean licked his heals and ankles, the tide moving in. This was where it had all started; this stretch of water, the first glimpse he had ever had of Atlantis…

Jason marvelled sometime at his own ability to adapt. One day he had been buying cereal at the corner-store and looking for part-time work in the news-paper, and the next he had been in a world of Greek myth, battling monsters, without running water, or medication, or internet.

Of course, Jason had always been a frugal sort; it had come from his father, he knew. TV had never interested him growing up, nor phones or laptops…not for a lack of curiosity, but because after his father disappeared there had never been anyone for him to call or contact.

Jason had been young when his father had died; kissed him farewell one morning, gone out to sea, and never come back. Jason remembered little of the man himself, not face or voice, but he remembered the warmth and kindness and love, and had spent his adult life chasing after that ghost of a feeling.

That this quest and lead him to Atlantis…Well it should have sent him crazy, Jason knew. He should not have so easily fallen into step with all of the madness, but…It was difficult to explain. All his previous life, he had felt detached and separate, like he was a cut-out from a book which had been stuck on the page of a glossy magazine. He had felt born from the thread of a different fabric, a character in black-and-white which had been set in a full colour film. He had distanced himself from people, distanced himself from the world, desperate to find the only other person who he had felt connected to…The one person who was cut from the same cloth as he.

And he found Atlantis instead. And for the first time, he had fitted. It did not seem strange then to forget all of the comforts of the false reality he had known before. Jason found himself thinking of it less and less, as he took root in the mystical city.

All the same, here he was now. Looking out to where it all began, a part of him spitefully wondering if, below those rolling waves, there was a way to get back.

"Jason?"

The footsteps had been muffled on the sand, but Jason was not surprised by the new comer. "Go away, Pythagoras." He warned, but the mathematician paid him no mind, remaining where he was. "Where's Hercules?" He asked sullenly instead.

"Looking for you in the Temple. You tend to visit the oracle when you have a problem with something."

"…Then how did _you_ know I'd be here?"

"Instinct." Pythagoras came and sat down beside him, "I know it's illogical, but…Well, it seemed that whatever ailed you stemmed from the heart, rather than the head. And you've often said it was on this beach you arrived in Atlantis…Though the details of your journey remain…somewhat vague to me still."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Jason gave a soft laugh, and then bowed his head. For all his grumpiness, he was glad of Pythagoras' company. "I don't even know what I'm doing here…There is no part of me that wants to return to my previous life…No part of me that wants to leave Atlantis, but…"

"Sometimes, one needs to know the door is there, even if one has no intention of using it." Pythagoras suggested and Jason looked over to him. "Otherwise a home becomes a prison, and a sanctuary a cell."

"That's…" Jason struggled to find the right word, "very accurate." He decided and Pythagoras gave him a slim smile. Jason looked back out over the ocean and gave a long sigh.

"You know we won the battle…" Pythagoras nudged him.

"I know."

"And that you're a hero among the people."

Jason muttered something non-descript below his breath. He heard Pythagoras shake his head.

"Would you mind telling me then…what's wrong?"

Jason ran his hands up through his hair, and then folded them hard over his chest. He inhaled deeply, and finally spoke. "Ariadne…" he began, "She told me that…we could never be together."

"Jason," Pythagoras tried to comfort, "Surely…Surely you must have known that would always be the case. She's a royal, and you're a-"

"-I know!" Jason said, perhaps a little too fiercely. "Don't you think I don't know that." He sprang to his feet and began to pace, splashing in the shallow water that swept up around his ankles. "Where I came from," he ranted, "None of this would have mattered. Not like this. So why is it, I have to travel through…through _time_ in order to find the woman I love!?" he demanded, "When I could have found her over there, instead? Could have been with her? Could have lived together without shame, and held her hand, and kissed her and never have to hide my feelings…Why is it that when I could have had all that over there…Somehow, somehow here I am…" he collapsed back into the sand lay back with a groan. Pythagoras jumped up and strode over, a little alarmed.

"Jason?"

Jason threw his arm over his eyes, "Why did I have to fall inlove with the Princess of Atlantis, Pythagoras?" he gasped and Pythagoras gave an almost titter, his voice sad.

"I'm not quite sure. All of us managed not to." he joked, and despite himself, Jason laughed. Silence fell between them and Pythagoras shifted closer.

"Jason…I ought to attend to your wound." he reminded gently, "I may have bound it, but after the battle…You should be in bed. Resting. Not out here, punishing yourself."

Jason closed his eyes. He knew it was true. His stomach hurt, the wound stinging and pulling sharply every time he moved. In the heat of the battle, he had barely felt it at all, but now it had returned fall force, and the only thing which had stopped him from crawling into bed was the anger and pain of Ariadne's words.

"Jason," Pythagoras said again, and Jason grunted to show he had heard him. Pythagoras leant over, examining him closely, his face pinched with concern. "Jason," he said a little more firmly, "I am sorry for suffering; I know your feelings for Ariadne are true and hers for you, and this is an impossible situation which none of us can make any better…But I'd like you to see it from my point of view now."

Jason frowned, unsure of the meaning. "Your point of view?"

"Just as you are devastated to have lost Ariadne, I should like you to imagine for a moment, how utterly distraught I would be if I were to lose you to some terrible infection or fever because instead of coming to bed when you ought to have, you were too busy rolling about in the sand?"

Once again, despite himself, Jason laughed. He reached up and put a hand behind Pythagoras' neck, pulling the man forward so their foreheads were pressed together. "Here I am complaining," Pythagoras muttered, "When it was your window I fell through that day…" he whispered, "You and Hercules…You are the greatest friends I have ever had…" his voice broke, "My only family."

"What do you think you are to us?" Pythagoras pulled away and standing up, helped Jason negotiate his way to his feet, "Jason…Hercules and I…Our lives were empty before you came into them. That is the truth. I know you hate it when I talk about triangles, but…Well, that's what we are, isn't it? The three. We're so different, so divided in our characters, and yet together we create something unique; our angles add up. Perhaps we're not symmetrical, but structurally sound; the perfect triangle. A perfect team…But without each other then, we're, well…if you'll excuse the pun…we're somewhat pointless…Though," Pythagoras put Jason's arm around his shoulder, resting on a hand on his back a so the man could lean into him as they walk, "I imagine of the three of us…you are probably the most useful on your own."

"Pythagoras," Jason laughed, "On my own, without you and Hercules, I would have died by now. Ten times over."

"This is true." Pythagoras granted as they moved back up into the city. "If it's any consolation…I know you may have lost Ariadne this night…But I am glad it was my window you chose to fall into that day too."

"Even though I keep dragging you into untold danger?"

Pythagoras gave a long sigh, "_Especially _because you keep dragging me into untold danger…Though never quote me saying that."

Jason was quite a moment. He leant a little more heavily into Pythagoras. "Thank you…that mean's a great deal to me." he murmured and Pythagoras gently knocked Jason's head with the side of his own.

"Be quiet and walk," he instructed, "If we make it back before Hercules, there may yet be some wine left to dull the pain."

"It's alright," Jason assured, as they stepped back into the city, "This is enough."

**The-Perfect-Triangle**

**Thanks for reading. If you liked, please do leave a review. This is my first time writing the Atlantis characters, so I'd like to know if I interpreted them well enough. Thanks!**


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